This is going to be a lot longer than I first hoped. This would turn into a monstrous study which bores me, but not doing so leads to a tl/dr useless post. I could go into greater details, but really not in the mood for that.

Specifically the last part of course, and quite a lot of bit of the rest.

Cooperative doesn't even apply, nor benign actually, apply for the relationship between the two nations from the Japanese p.o.v; the closer I can think of would be a mix of oedipal and non consentual-marital sex relation. Hence the Depeche Mode Yorricking above.

To wit: US military base at Kaneda. The relation between the local inhabitants and US personel is not very good; social misunderstanding and the unceasing cases of rapers/sexual abuses on locals by US troops kepp on adding fuel to this fire. For those who don't know Japan at all, it's an often voiced opinion that if one person of this or that nation do something then the rest of this or that nation shares that trait too; individuality is egoism for an average Japanese person. So this is all US fault. Yet to go back at this airbase, moving that base out on one of the main islands, in part or whole, is vehemently fought by local powers; not only because of the issues mentionned above but due too to racism (quite a complex issue and derailing this thread).

Logically the whole chain of events:
- Historically, US didn't went to "great lenghts", by my understanding of great lenghts which would be the Marshall Plan. It used the powers in place to make sure Japan would be a tame vassal. Japan' rise to economic superpower was mostly due to MITI's work in the 50, early 60.
- There is a marked difference between Nuremberg and Tokyo too. While marginal in the government to government scope, this meant the first post-war administration was peppered with individuals and organizations who deserved a life sentency (Ishii Shiro comes to mind). This, and the late (mid 70) addition of class A war criminal' ashes to the Yasukuni shrine points out that at least there are nowadays(*) powerful families/clans with enough clout with strong ties to the pre-war period. That those families are anti-communist doesn't makes them pro-US either.
- Unless memory fails, it was late 80' when the first trade war erupted between Japan and US. Talk about benign.
- Socially. And this is but a personal reporting with little statistical value granted. Japaneses are pretty poker faced about what they think about you. But I've noticed two things, they tend to open up about third parties when drunk, and they think French people hates US guts by and large. On more than one social occasion, late in the night, I was told that they too share this view but wish they had the courage to work it up as a nation (cf individuality vs group mindset above).

Last but not least, comparing the two situations is like comparing apples and oranges. Both are fruits and that's it. Sharon knows exactly what his electoral base asks from him, he's willing to cheat, lie or whatsnot to other nations to remain in power and achieve his goals (Im recalling a recorded Obama/Sarkozy exchange on this specific issue).

Happy?

(*) All those ministers that pay hommage annualy at Yasukuni aren't all that diplomatically daft to ignore Beijing' reaction. There is something else to take into account for that move that makes it worthwhile to them._________________我的氣墊船裝滿了鱔魚

i wouldn't put getting elected so he commit more Actual Genocides past ariel, even as a plant. world's deadliest potato_________________attitude of a street punk, only cutting selected words out of context to get onself excuse to let one's dirty mouth loose

i would have noted that the article in question was by his son, but you know what, if Ariel Sharon can destroy the Palestinians even as a vegetable, then clearly we are trifling with forces we do not understand

Compared to those space cowboys at NASA, NOAA tends to be pretty low-key. Even when they solve a 15 year old mystery that has had people speculating about sea monsters, aliens, or government experiments.

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Dr. Latisha Smith, an expert in decompression sicknesses afflicting deep sea divers, has cleared criminal background checks throughout her medical career. Yet someone searching the Web for the Washington State physician might well come across an Internet ad suggesting she may have an arrest record.

"Latisha Smith, arrested?" reads one such advertisement. Another says: "Latisha Smith Truth... Check Latisha Smith's Arrests." Instantcheckmate.com, which labels itself the "Internet's leading authority on background checks," placed both ads. A statistical analysis of the company's advertising has found it has disproportionately used ad copy including the word "arrested" for black-identifying names, even when a person has no arrest record.

Latanya Sweeney is a Harvard University professor of government with a doctorate in computer science. After learning that her own name had popped up in an "arrested?" ad when a colleague was searching for one of her academic publications, she ran more than 120,000 searches for names primarily given to either black or white children, testing ads delivered for 2,400 real names 50 times each. (The author of this story is a Harvard University fellow collaborating with Professor Sweeney on a book about the business of personal data.)

Ebony Jefferson, for example, often turns up an instantcheckmate.com ad reading: "Ebony Jefferson, arrested?" but an ad triggered by a search for Emily Jefferson would read: "We found Emily Jefferson." Searches for randomly chosen black-identifying names such as Deshawn Williams, Latisha Smith or Latanya Smith often produced the "arrested?" headline or ad text with the word "arrest," whereas other less ethnic-sounding first names matched with the same surnames typically did not.

"As an African-American, I'm used to profiling like that," said Dr. Smith. "I think it's horrendous that they get away with it."

Instantcheckmate.com declined to comment. The company's founder and managing partner, Kristian Kibak, did not respond to repeated emails and phone calls over a period of several months, and other employees referred calls to management. Company officials also declined to comment when visited twice at their call center in Las Vegas. Former employees said they had signed nondisclosure agreements that barred them from speaking openly about Instant Checkmate.

Instantcheckmate.com is one of many data brokers that use and sell data for a variety of purposes. The field is attracting growing attention, both from government and consumers concerned about possible abuse. Rapid advances in technology have opened up all sorts of opportunities for commercialization of data. Anyone can set up shop and sell arrest records as long as they stay clear of U.S. legal limitations such as using the information to determine creditworthiness, insurance or job suitability.

Companies that compete with instantcheckmate.com include intelius.com and mylife.com. An examination of Internet advertising starting last March as well as Sweeney's study did not find any rival companies advertising background searches on individual names along racial lines.

I have to admit I don't buy it and I don't understand what most of the points provided have to do against establishing the conceptualization of the us-japan relationship being benign and cooperative.

secondary question: which Sharon "knows exactly what his electoral base asks from him" and is trying to "remain in power"

I kinda figured that out as I was replying, no victor country never wanted to face reality; it's an interesting topic but just out of the current context. I hold the general view that no colonial power ever, so far in history, avoided to try glossing over the dirty bits of it's occupational policy in his history, whether recent or old, for the purpose of looking all prim and decent when facing it's own future generations.

So back to the Gaza strip. I've some trouble understanding your question as I don't know another Sharon for the time being. Care to elaborate?. The basic policy is to tender to your base's needs if that's what needed explanation. And Bibi is just doing that._________________我的氣墊船裝滿了鱔魚

The point being, there is a similarity between the two : The respectives Tea party holds the cards as far as their electorates goes; but their views are so far out of the mainstream conservative voters that expressing their opinions would insure losing elections for the next four times given the general opinion.

I kinda figured that out as I was replying, no victor country never wanted to face reality; it's an interesting topic but just out of the current context. I hold the general view that no colonial power ever, so far in history, avoided to try glossing over the dirty bits of it's occupational policy in his history, whether recent or old, for the purpose of looking all prim and decent when facing it's own future generations.

Again I'm admittedly stuck wondering about the relevance of this statement. I am reading it and it does not make a lot of sense contextual to the claim at issue.

Quote:

So back to the Gaza strip. I've some trouble understanding your question as I don't know another Sharon for the time being. Care to elaborate?. The basic policy is to tender to your base's needs if that's what needed explanation. And Bibi is just doing that.

... I'm asking you, because I don't know about any other Sharon in power either? You talked about Sharon. Which Sharon were you talking about in your post?

I kinda figured that out as I was replying, no victor country never wanted to face reality; it's an interesting topic but just out of the current context. I hold the general view that no colonial power ever, so far in history, avoided to try glossing over the dirty bits of it's occupational policy in his history, whether recent or old, for the purpose of looking all prim and decent when facing it's own future generations.

Again I'm admittedly stuck wondering about the relevance of this statement. I am reading it and it does not make a lot of sense contextual to the claim at issue.

Quote:

So back to the Gaza strip. I've some trouble understanding your question as I don't know another Sharon for the time being. Care to elaborate?. The basic policy is to tender to your base's needs if that's what needed explanation. And Bibi is just doing that.

... I'm asking you, because I don't know about any other Sharon in power either? You talked about Sharon. Which Sharon were you talking about in your post?